Pepperfry

Template:Use Indian English Vinod saini

Pepperfry
Industry Online shopping
(E-commerce)
Founded 2012 (2012)
Founder Ambareesh Murty & Ashish Shah
Headquarters Mumbai, India
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Ambareesh Murty (CEO), Ashish Shah (COO), Kashyap Vadapalli (CMO), Sanjay Netrabile(CTO)
Products Furniture, Home Decor, Furnishings & Lamps, Bed & Bath, Kitchen, Appliances, Housekeeping, Pets & Gardening
Website pepperfry.com

Pepperfry.com is a furniture and home products e-commerce marketplace[1] headquartered in Mumbai. A managed marketplace, Pepperfry is known for its differentiated product range across categories like Furniture, Home Décor, Furnishings, Lamps & Lighting, Kitchen & Dining, Appliances, Appliances, Bath, Housekeeping.

History

Pepperfry.com recently celebrated its 4th anniversary by announcing a sale through an anniversary campaign. It was established on January 3, 2012 by founders Ambareesh Murty[2] (former eBay Country Manager) and Ashish Shah (former head of eBay Motors-India and Philippines). Post their association with eBay India in leadership positions, they decided to set up their own company.[3] Pepperfry initially offered a selection of products across multiple lifestyle categories.[4] However, since 2013, the company pivoted to sell only furniture and home décor products sourced from SMEs, artisans and large brands in multiple cities across India. A strategic business move the company achieved a major milestone of shipping 1 lakh units of furniture in November 2014.[5]

The company offers free shipping on all orders. It also provides carpenters to assemble furniture items in major cities on the same day.[6] In December 2014 the company launched its first concept store "Studio Pepperfry" in Mumbai. This was followed by a similar Studio opening in Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Mumbai (Linking Road) and Kolkata and in Pune.[7]

The company recently celebrated a major milestone of successfully delivering one million customer orders.[8]

Funding

Initially funded by the founders themselves, Pepperfry.com raised US$5 million in Series A funding from Norwest Venture Partners in December 2011.[9] It raised fresh funds worth US$8 million from Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) in the second round of funding in 2013.

In 2014, the company raised $15 million in the third round of funding Series C led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), the strategic investment arm of the international media company Bertelsmann in India. Pepperfry’s current investors, Silicon Valley-based Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) had also participated in this round.[10] The Company recently raised $100 million in Series D funding round led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Zodius Technology Fund existing investors Bertelsmann India Investments and Norwest Venture Partners also participated in the round. [11]

Business model

Pepperfry operates on a "Managed Marketplace" model. Currently, the website has over a 1000 plus merchant partners, who can showcase their design skills, craftsmanship and service orientation to customers across India and the world. For many merchants, it has become the primary source of their income. [12]

Geographical Presence

Pepperfry has successfully established the Last Mile Delivery in 400 plus towns and cities directly through its own last mile delivery infrastructure.[13]

Supply Chain and Logistics

Pepperfry’s unique and proprietary large-item shipment network ensures quick and damage-free doorstep delivery of bulky furniture. Pepperfry has fulfilment centers across country in Mumbai, Jodhpur, Pune, Delhi, etc. to enable smooth and speedy delivery of products.

M-Commerce

In April 2013, Pepperfry launched its mobile site[14] that can be surfed on any web browser or mobile device. It features a customizable cart before checkout, creation of wish-lists – all of which can be shared with friends & families through Twitter, Facebook & Pinterest.

The company recently launched its app in June 2015 to assist millions of Android and iOS users to make their decisions in a more informed manner using the enhanced ‘Augmented Reality’ features. Using this feature customers can virtually place the products in their home and share them with their family and friends. They can also pick any colour to represent their walls to check how it looks[15]

Marketing

In October 2014 Pepperfry tied-up with Satchi & Satchi to release its first television commercial with "Happy Furniture to You" as its unique brand proposition. It was spread across radio, digital, outdoor and social platforms like Google, YouTube and Facebook[16]

Offline Presence

Pepperfry launched its first concept store Studio Pepperfry in Mumbai on December 18, 2014 followed by another one in Bangalore in May 2015. The company subsequently launched concept stores in Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata.[17]

These Studio’s have been conceived as experience zone to showcase a curated range of furniture from Pepperfry’s online portfolio and provide design consultancy. At these Studio’s Pepperfry offers complimentary consulting services on various aspects of design, specifically related to furniture. The brand plans to open 20 such offline stores in top cities like Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, and Chennai.[18]

The company has tied-up with HomeStop to launch the first Shop-in-Shop concept store in the category called "Pepperfry Live" at their Ahmedabad, Chennai and Mumbai outlets with similar store openings at various other HomeStop outlets.[19] It also has pop-up stores at Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru airports.[20]

Pepperfry recently introduced ‘Pepperfry Bespoke’ which allows customers to shop for curated design ideas across any room, style and budget on the portal. These designs have been created by in-house designers who also assist in customizing them.

Other Initiatives

The brand launched the first-of-its-kind initiative Furniture Design Crowdsourcing Challenge- Design Democracy on 26 January 2014 which was open to all Indians. The winning designs will be sold on the portal. [21] The e-commerce portal joined hands with Grow Trees, an NGO for planting trees across major States in the country. [22]

Products and Brands

The company has a tie-up with leading global and national brands like Godrej Interio, Nilkamal, Spacewood, @Home, Durian, Hometown, Furniture Kraft, Evok, etc. and global furniture brands like GEBE, Eurosteel Office Furniture, Defianz, HeveaPac, etc. on its website.[23]

In other home categories, Pepperfry has leading national brands like HomeStop, Philips, Portico, Raymond, Prestige, Tupperware, and global brands including Whirlpool, Joseph Joseph, Kitchen Craft, Philips, Corelle, Morphy Richards etc.

Awards

Pepperfry was the recipient of the '2012 Red Herring Asia Top 100' award which honours the most promising private technology ventures from Asia.[24]

The company also won the 'Pure-Play eRetailer of the Year' at the Indian eRetail Congress 2014 that recognises outstanding performance and innovation in retail.[25]

Pepperfry won the Gold award at the Neons for Best Creative under the category of Retail Advertising for its Outdoor campaign - 'Happy Furniture to You'[26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pepperfry Raises Funding (February 20, 2015). "Pepperfry to raise $70-80 m in Series D funding". The Hindu Business Line.
  2. ↑ Ambareesh Murty, Live Mint Interview: Pepperfry.com's CEO. "Live Mint Interview: Pepperfry.com's CEO: Ambareesh Murty". LiveMint.
  3. ↑ Pepperfry.com Goes Live. "Ambareesh Murty led ecommerce venture pepperfry.com goes live". iamwire.
  4. ↑ Finding a niche in the online home products market. "Finding a niche in the online home products market". Business Standard.
  5. ↑ "Pepperfry sees sizzle in online furniture retail". Hindu Business Line. February 19, 2014.
  6. ↑ Pepperfry - Design Your Own Furniture. "Pepperfry Rolls Out DIY (Design Your Own Furniture) AND 'In A Day Carpenter' Service". Next Big What.
  7. ↑ Pepperfry to raise $70-80 m in Series D funding (February 20, 2015). "Pepperfry set up 19 experience centres of 2,500-3,000 sq ft each, called Studio Pepperfry, across the country". Hindu Business Line.
  8. ↑ Pepperfry Hits 1 Million Customers. "Pepperfry hits a million customers Orders". Economic Times.
  9. ↑ Norwest Venture Partners India Invests in Pepperfry (Dec 13, 2011). "Pepperfry raises $5m from Norwest Venture Partners". Times of India.
  10. ↑ Pepperfry Raises Fresh Funding of $15M (July 13, 2015). "Pepperfry.com raises $15 mln from Bertelsmann India Investments and NVP". Forbes.
  11. ↑ "Pepperfry raises $100M from Goldman Sachs, Zodius & others". VCCircle.
  12. ↑ New e-commerce players are tweaking the signature models of the last phase in search of profitability (March 17, 2013). "From pure marketplaces to managed marketplaces". Business Standard.
  13. ↑ "Online furniture market place Pepperfry extends Last Mile Delivery to 400 cities". Economic Times. 28 September 2015.
  14. ↑ Pepperfry Mobile Site Gets Launched (April 22, 2014). "Pepperfry launches mobile site". The Hindu Business Line.
  15. ↑ Pepperfry Launches App for iOS & Android. "Pepperfry for iOS and Android launched". First Post.
  16. ↑ Pepperfry greets consumers with ‘Happy furniture to you’ insight. "Pepperfry greets consumers with ‘Happy furniture to you’". mxmindia.
  17. ↑ Pepperfry Launches Studio Pepperfry. "Pepperfry has introduced its first concept store, called Studio Pepperfry,". HT Syndication.
  18. ↑ Pepperfry's New Concept - Studio Pepperfry. "Pepperfry unveils its first concept store 'Studio Pepperfry'". Indian Retailer.
  19. ↑ Pepperfry Ties up with HomeStop (June 25, 2015). "Pepperfry pursues offline buyers aggressively; ties up with HomeStop". The Hindu Business Line.
  20. ↑ Pepperfry makes a comeback with its floor displays at Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore Airports. "Pepperfry makes a comeback with its floor displays at Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore Airports". All About Out Door.
  21. ↑ Blueprint for Success - Pepperfry. "Pepperfry.com - Blueprint for Success". The New Indian Express.
  22. ↑ Pepperfry.com announces Green drive. "Pepperfry.com - Green Drive Initiative". India PR Wire.
  23. ↑ Think Pepperfry.com. "Think Pepperfry.com - Destination for Online Furniture & Home Products". Silicon India.
  24. ↑ "Pepperfry.com wins Red Herring Top 100 Asia Award For 2012". Afaqs. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  25. ↑ "Indian eRetail Congress 2014 award winners". indianretailer.com. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  26. ↑ Pepperfry won the Gold award at the Neons for Best Creative under the category of Retail Advertising for it’s Outdoor campaign - 'Happy Furniture to You'. "Pepperfry won the Gold award at the Neons for Best Creative under the category of Retail Advertising for it’s Outdoor campaign - 'Happy Furniture to You'". Exchange 4 Media.

External links

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